Many small businesses make the leap to a professional office phone system for a variety of reasons, namely the features they can provide (think call conferencing, auto-attendant, etc.).  But many struggle with choosing a system that’s apt for their business needs; so we want to hear from all you small business owners:

Whether you’re a Maryland divorce lawyer or California plastic surgeon, chances are you have a website chock full of information regarding your firm; information about what you do, a portfolio of past work, or perhaps even a blog.  But what really sets your site apart from the hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of other competing websites?

As more and more people are hopping online instead of turning to the yellow pages, internet marketing can play a vital role in the success (or lack thereof) of your business.  And whether or not you outsource your marketing or keep it in-house, here are the three things you should be doing to brand yourself and create a noticeable presence online.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization refers to a strategy aimed at increasing a website’s rankings in major search engines (e.g. Google) and subsequently website traffic.  While there are different theories and approaches on how to do SEO, most experts will agree a well-rounded SEO campaign should includes a variety of factors such as content generation (writing quality content and publishing it on various blogs and other websites), linkbuilding (embedded links that point to your website), and social media.  Click here to learn more about search engine optimization.

Social Media – Getting involved on various social networking sites (think Twitter, Facebook, etc.) is a great and highly effective way to promote your business and get traffic to your website.  In addition, social media gives you the opportunity to engage and communicate with users (read: potential customers) and positions yourself as an expert in your field or area of specialization (what business wouldn’t want that?).

Pay-Per-Click – You know when you run a search on Google, you have a list of results along with a handful of links on the right side; these are paid ads (also known as PPC ads), so companies pay a certain amount to show up in those paid ads when a certain term is searched.  The benefit of PPC is, whereas it can take months to see result from SEO, PPC can deliver results and traffic to your website immediately.  Since PPC can be a complex process, it’s recommended you seek the help of a professional if you’re looking to get a PPC campaign up and running.

It’s predicted over the next year that more and more companies will look to online survey software tools for their market research and internal analysis instead of outsourcing to full-service firms (read the article from Forrester here). Survey software not only enables companies to bring their market research in-house, but it provides convenience and efficiency.

• Many survey tools automatically collect and analyze results, drastically reducing much of the busy work associated with market research and saving valuable work hours.
• Raw data can often be easily and quickly downloaded in Microsoft Excel or SPSS.
• Significant cost savings over outsourcing and conventional, paper-based surveys.
• Most tools provide real-time access meaning results can be viewed instantly.

Whether you’re traveling for business or with the family over the holidays, here are some of the best airline products.

Noise Cancelling Headphones
Banish loud, obnoxious cabin noise with Bose’s Quiet-Comfort 3 headphones. Well worth the price, they provide symphony-hall sound quality.

Inflatable Pillow
Ok, you may feel silly using this but imagine how you’ll feel after getting a good night’s rest on a long red-eye flight. Simply place it on the tray table, lean forward, and pass out!

Neck Pillow
Or if you prefer to sleep in the sitting position, a must-have is the U-shaped neck pillow that provides maximum comfort for your head and neck while in a seated position.

Solio Charger
An advanced hybrid charger, the Solio Charger combines efficient solar panels with a high-capacity battery to collect and store power and can power nearly all your electronic devices from blackberry to ipod.

Electrical Circuit Test
This one you can’t necessarily buy but as a business traveler, you’ll appreciate nonetheless. Engineered by LiveWire Test Labs, An electrical circuit test can detect and locate faulty wiring that could be potentially hazardous (remember Swissair 111 or TWA 800?).

If you have an online storefront, there are several things that you will want to keep in mind to keep your business booming, loyal customers returning, and new customers discovering what you offer. One of the great things about having an online business is a cheaper cost of operations. You can save a great deal of money that you can focus on increasing your inventory or your advertising. One great way to increase ease of shopping on your site is to have global payment services. This will allow a larger variety of customers from all over the world to access your site and increase your profits.

Also make sure that your check-out system is easy to navigate. Many potential customers are in the process of buying when they run into problems with the “shopping cart” and so on, and they will stop what they are doing and just find another site to buy from.  You definitely don’t want this to happen, obviously.

The next thing you can do is to spend some time and money on advertising and increasing the traffic to your site. Get your name out there and let people know you are here and ready for business.

So, why is internet marketing crucial to a thriving business? Because the internet has replaced the phone book. Hardly anyone looks up businesses the old fashioned way. The internet is the way to go. You want as much traffic as possible to come to your site so that your profits increase and your business thrives. Having a great, put-together website is also very important for increased site traffic. Here are a few tips to have customers coming back for more:

• Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Nothing is more frustrating to those trying to find information and not being able to do it easily and effectively.  They definitely won’t be coming back. They will move onto the next website; one that is easy to get through.
• Provide just the right amount of information. Both too much information and too little information can be harmful to your traffic. If your website is crowded and busy, it turns people away from looking more into your business, your product, or your services.
• Write exactly what your site is about/promoting on the homepage. Most won’t search page after page to find out exactly what your services or products are.

More than 2/3 of Fortune 500 companies utilize 360 degree feedback, which is typically believed to be a highly effective performance evaluation tool. Also known as multi-rater feedback, the tool allows employees to receive feedback from all around them – from supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, and more. Utilizing 360 degree feedback benefits a business in a myriad of ways:

• An organized atmosphere can cultivate individual growth.
• Constructive criticisms are viewed as opportunities to improve.
• Provides self-awareness among employees.
• Provides a framework for assessment of competence in addition to areas that are lacking.
• Encourages open communication within the company.
• An employee’s self-awareness can improve their performance and morale.
• Helps the organization identify goals and areas of improvement.

The businesses that have been around for a while have learned to adapt to the every-changing advancements in technology. Newer, more modern businesses come straight into the folds of technology. You see many companies with Macs–especially now that there is Mac backup–, blackberries, and everything in between.

You are a part of a modern business, keep an eye out for new technologies that will make conducting that much easier, faster, and more efficient. I think we will all be amazed a few years down the road at the abundant and unique technologies that will be widely available.

The ascent of the world wide web in more countries than ever in conjunction with the popularity of online shopping has made the prospect of going global an attractive prospect to many online retailers. Furthermore, a weak U.S. dollar makes such prospects look better and better as the demand for U.S. products overseas continues to increase.

One of the biggest obstacles merchants face when going global is providing flexible, relevant payment methods. It’s no secret that offering a number of alternative payment methods will increase your sales, especially when you are branching out internationally. Payment methods vary widely between countries, so selecting a comprehensive, well-versed online payment processing solution will make the global transition much easier and enable you to accept numerous international payment methods, ensuring you do not miss a sale just because you do not offer a customer’s preferred payment method of choice. And since a thriving business essentially depends on absolute trust between itself and its customers, reliable payment solutions with the highest possible security and safe IT infrastructure is vital.

NextPage will be appearing at three upcoming conferences in the remaining months of 2008. If you are in the area, or can get in the area, go check it out:

• Sept. 17th: in New York, NY at the “Kahn Compliance In Information Management Forum Conference and Workshop”.  This conference will focus on compliancy laws and privacy issues. NextPage will be offering information about compliance software and the effects of unmanaged documents.
• Oct. 20-23rd: Las Vegas, NV at the ARMA’s International 53rd Annual Conference and Expo. Focusing on electronic records and the difficulty of keeping track of all versions of said document and realistic and possible solutions. Information management is important for every business.
• Dec. 8-11th: New York, NY at the IQPC 6th E-Discovery Conference. Digital records can be overwhelming feat. Find more practical solutions for your business.